Dale Davis, a retired coal miner in Cadiz, Ohio, left the profession because of a lack of job security. Laid off four times in the course of more than three decades in mining, Davis has worked in the pharmaceutical delivery business since 2013. He liked working in the mines and the good pay and benefits, but frequent layoffs kept him on edge, and he was never sure when he might lose his job.
He’s one of tens of thousands of coal miners who have left the industry in the last decade amid declining profits and stricter regulations because of the industry’s major contribution to climate change. Many of these former miners are now looking for work that provides similar pay and benefits, and the potential for new jobs in the growing clean energy sector gives them cautious hope.
